sump pump service necessary?

[fieldgrade]

I've got a 1/2 horse power sump pump in an easily accessible sump in my basement that stays closed up in the sump. It's probably 15 years old. It will sit idle for months, then when we get really heavy or prolonged rains it will get a workout. I open up the sump every few years to be sure the bottom of the sump isn't filling up with silt from the french drain that feeds it, and it never is.

Is there any other kind of service I ought perform regularly on this drainage system?

 

[MuzzerFuzzer]

Gimme a few minutes, I'll think o sump'n...I just woke up.

 

[trcubed]

As long as water can't get into the motor bearings, those things are pretty much bullet proof. They're cheap enough, too, so if you're worried about it, just yank it out and replace it.

 

[skiles]

Great question. We have pretty much an identical set up. I'm not sure how old my pump is though. It got a great workout a couple weeks ago with the 5 inches we got. It worked like a champ.

 

[MuzzerFuzzer]

As long as water can't get into the motor bearings, those things are pretty much bullet proof. They're cheap enough, too, so if you're worried about it, just yank it out and replace it.

Yup...a good sludge check and a float switch twizzle, is all I've ever done. Usually I do the check when I go to the basement to turn the outside spigots off for winter. We have two here. One for the floor drainage and another that's dedicated to the condensation from the heat and AC.
(My mom's house)

 

[Scsmith42]

Give it a functionality check once a year or so by dumping a couple of 5 gallon buckets of water in the sump.

You want to make sure that the pump functions, the drain is clear and none of the bellows connections are dry rotted to the point of leaking.

 

[Ghost1]

It doesn't matter what maintenance you perform on your sump pump, murphy's law dictates that it will fail when you absolutely need it not to. SO relax, you're screwed either way.

 

[foopid stucker]

purchase one to have a stand by....just be sure it works

 

[rdinatal]

Better yet, sell everything, move to a 2nd floor condo and never leave.

-R

 

[fieldgrade]

It doesn't matter what maintenance you perform on your sump pump, murphy's law dictates that it will fail when you absolutely need it not to. SO relax, you're screwed either way.

When Matthew was raining on us so hard I was sitting in the den around noon watching the news. The power went out and that sump pump was already running wide open right up till then. I ran to the shop in the basement, drug out the generator, filled it, and cranked it in record time. I would have had a flooded basement otherwise.